yeast shortage

[wombil]

HEY guys,
Got a small problem.
Making a saison and have 42 litres of 1.057 wort but only have one pack of 1374 belgian saison yeast.It is well within its use by date and has been kept in the frige.
My feeling is to go with this and hope for the best.
I also have some us 05 if it would help at all.
What are your thoughts about this.I want to pitch tomorrow morning if possible.
Thanks for any input.
bedtime now.

 

[TidalPete]

Yo Wombil!

Off the top of my head I would take a chance & pitch the 1374 into 21 litres of your wort leaving the remaining 21 litres in another (airtight) fermenter until Ross can send you a sachet of Belle Saison in the post ASAP.

Slight, slight risk of infection I know but not so much to worry about if you order that dried yeast pronto & keep the fermenter in the fridge at low temps in the meantime.
Hope this helps mate.

 

[hoppy2B]

A few weeks back I used a quarter of a packet of Belle Saison in a starter for 12 hours before pitching into about 20 odd litres. Fermented at high temps and it was done in 18 hours. Finished very very dry.
My OG was only about 1030 though, but I'd still say just pitch your 1374 and go for it.

 

[manticle]

No chilled wort? Would it keep or do you need (not want) to pitch tomorrow?

If NC, just make a starter.

 

[Florian]

Wombil, the other option is, provided you have two cubes full of wort, to pitch your yeast onto one cube of wort, wait a day or two until yeast numbers have picked up (wait until Krausen just starts to form), and then add the second cube to the fermenter. You're basically making a big starter, this has proven to work well for lagers, so I would assume it would work even better for saisons.

Failing that, in all honesty and given you're likely to ferment at fairly high temps, I'd say that you're probably alright pitching the yeast into your whole batch straight away.
I've never fermented saisons, but always underpitch my wheat beers on purpose to get a certain flavour profile, in my case up the banana and keep cloves at bay.

 

[Josh]

Do you mean 3724? If so, pitch the package plus the US05. 3724 has been a notorious ferment staller. The US05 will finish it off nicely.

Alternatively, pitch one cube, then add the second cube the following day as suggested above.

 

[wombil]

Yeah Josh,got the numbers mixed up.Not the best in the night time.
Thanks for all the replies.
Think I will go with the pitch half then add the rest when it gets going method as I was leaning this way when I woke up this morning.
Mornings work better for me.
I have it in a 60 ltr . FV so Ill take a cube out and start it in the fv then add the cube when it gets going.Easy as.
This is the first time saison for me and will try the next one with a yeast mix for fun.
Will post results.
wombil.

 

[mje1980]

Don't pitch the us05, take your time and let the 3724 do it's thing. It may take a while longer than normal ( it's a slow one for sure ) but you will be rewarded with a fine fine ale. Stick the us05 into a boring APA with a fugg load of US hops, and give it to your friends while you sneakily sip on your saison hehehe

 

[manticle]

Where will you be keeping the unpitched wort while you wait?

Can you get more yeast? I'd be pitching immediately if not in a sealed cube and getting more saison yeast as soon as possible to add in.

I'd also be buying some cubes so you can avoid worrying about this sort of thing in future. No chill is easy enough to do properly.

 

[timmi9191]

Surely there's another Canberra brewer with a spare saison yeast that can give you a chop out??

 

[Florian]

That'd be a bit of a drive, though.

 

[timmi9191]

My bad.. Misread coomera as Canberra..

Ok so any brewers in coomera that can chop a brother out??

 

[QldKev]

Too late now, but myself I would have just underpitched the wort with what you have. That way you wont have half sitting around whilst the other half tries to start.

 

[wombil]

Well Guys,
Hi manticle ,I no chill all the time ,no trouble with that and the wort and fermenter are in the shed at the moment at 23 deg C.Bit cool for this time of year and Kev,I probably should have just used the one pack and waited for it.
I ended up splitting it up and pitching the half in the fv and will add the rest when it starts up,Not much action yet after nearly 2 days.See how it looks tomorrow.
By the way,just thought of this,if this works ok I'll save $10 on the other pack of yeast.
Lousy ******* hey.

 

[manticle]

I mean no chill into a sealed cube so you can pitch when you have the yeast, not no chill into a fermenter and have time limits before the wort goes off.

 

[wombil]

Sure mate,I am an experienced no chiller and got that right,
Thanks for the concern.

 

[manticle]

So I'm confused. My original suggestion was to leave in the cube and just get more yeast. Why the need to pitch without sufficient yeast on hand?

 

[wombil]

Weeeellll,
Your first suggestion was to make a starter.Then I got another tip from Florian to pitch into half of the wort with my one pack of yeast,use that as a big starter,then add the rest of the wort to this when krausen formed.
Never done this before and it seemed logical so I have given it a go.

 

[QldKev]

So I'm confused. My original suggestion was to leave in the cube and just get more yeast. Why the need to pitch without sufficient yeast on hand?

I thought all the wort was already chilled.

If it's no chilled in a cube I would leave it until more yeast is onhand.

 

[wombil]

The wort was no chilled in the 60 ltr FV,As I only had one pack of yeast half was taken out and put in a sealed cube.The other half had the yeast pitched on it to make a big starter.I did not see much action or krausen but the SG has dropped from 1.057 to 1.018 so it has been working ok.
Now the other half of the wort that was in the cube has been added to the fermenter and it is just wait and see for now.
It has been said here that the 3724 takes off and foams everywhere.Certainly didn;t happen here.